


Debrief

by mechabre



Category: Guild Wars
Genre: F/M, Femdom, Light Dom/sub, Pet Names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-02 00:22:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5226770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mechabre/pseuds/mechabre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Why, marigold, what’s wrong? Bumblebee got your tongue?” Anise smiled at her own tired joke, and Canach was unable to resist rolling his eyes. She caught that, of course, and sobered as she added, “I do hope you don’t have bad news for me.”</p><p>Canach returns to Divinity's Reach, after the dragon has been felled. General spoiler warning for Heart of Thorns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Debrief

**Author's Note:**

> so i just finished HoT with a friend, and my heart is a gaping hole and i'm basically dead inside. so i wrote this to soothe my soul. fluffy kink shit with countess anise and canach, since it's basically canon right. 
> 
> i can't actually believe that my first fic posted here is, in fact, a F/M pairing. amazing.

Countess Anise’s personal study was an exercise in understated luxury; she was not a person of gilt and filigree, but each leather-studded armchair and tall oak bookshelf was constructed of the highest quality. The chairs, especially, were dreadfully comfortable. Canach often felt out of place among such comforts -- Anise had done what she could to make him feel less awkward, but now, well -- after the events that transpired in the jungle, it felt more alien than ever.

  Canach fell back upon old habits, hovering in the doorway like a dog waiting to be taken for a walk. Again, his shadow’s words ran across his mind -- _Lacking focus, seeking a master._ He scowled faintly at the nearest armchair. Empty words. They should not bother him. _(They did.)_

  He stood in the doorway of the long, warmly-lit room, watching Countess Anise seated at the desk at the far end. Her eyes flicked up once to meet his, acknowledging him, but she did not beckon immediately. Canach understood -- she was working. She almost always was, one way or another, and this came as no surprise. He had stood for this long, he could wait a little longer for her.

  Anise worked with quiet efficiency, barely ever glancing away once she'd noted his presence. It seemed she was checking over forms to do with the Shining Blade -- it was not an easy job to be the captain of the Queen’s guard, nor a paperless one. For all the luxury and privilege it brought, Canach could not say he envied her status. 

  Finally, it appeared the Countess had come to a stopping point in her labors. She delicately set her pen aside, shuffled the papers on her desk, and said, “Come here, buttercup. I’m sure you have much to tell me.”

  Canach hesitated, briefly, before crossing the room in long, confident strides. He stopped a couple of feet away from the Countess’s desk. Despite his outward stability, his chest fluttered uneasily. He craved attention, and felt as if he shouldn’t. Anise was quiet at first, but her eyes twinkled with amusement. It was as if she could see right through him, piercing his chest and drawing out the powerful weariness he’d been suppressing for days, weeks. His mouth was dry.

  “Why, marigold, what’s wrong? Bumblebee got your tongue?” Anise smiled at her own tired joke, and Canach was unable to resist rolling his eyes. She caught that, of course, and sobered as she added, “I do hope you don’t have bad news for me.”

  “No, no, that’s not it at all,” Canach responded quickly, shoulders tensing. “The dragon is no more, it’s just… Forgive me, Countess, but I… am simply having trouble deciding where to begin.” _Lacking focus._ “So much transpired, I…”

  Anise hummed, and Canach fell silent as surely as if he had been shushed. “My dear Canach, I am terribly sorry, but I am afraid my little ears cannot hear you from all the way over there.” Her voice took on a note of command. “Come closer.”

  It had been some time, but Canach recognized the meaning behind her words. Feeling a strange mix of unburdened and apprehensive, he stepped around the desk, past the invisible barrier between business and something other -- to find that Anise had already laid a cushion next to her chair, making her intent clear. Damn it, she’d _planned_ for this -- a familiar annoyance and overwhelming relief joined the cocktail of emotions simmering in his gut. It was becoming a bothersome, crowded concoction, but he felt safe. Taken care of. She’d planned for this.

  Like a marionette cut from its strings, Canach collapsed to his knees onto the cushion next to her, finally letting the exhaustion in his body reach his mind. Anise uncrossed her legs and gently guided his head to rest in her lap, apparently unbothered by the thorns and spines on his face. He'd barely noticed the fierce tension in his shoulders until he found it starting to ease.

  “My blossom, you’ve done well,” Countess Anise crooned, leather-clad hands cupping Canach’s face, stroking between a row of thorns fondly as she tilted it up to face her. “I knew from the start I chose correctly when I chose you.”

  “You flatter me, Countess,” Canach’s voice wavered, but not with fear, or even emotion. He was just so _tired._

  “Do I? It’s not commonplace that I send an agent into the field, and hear word back that they’ve felled a dragon for me.” She chuckled. Canach closed his eyes to listen. “I shall praise you as I see fit, blossom, and you shall not question me.”

  “But Countess, there is so much more than that,” Canach lifted his head slightly, furrowed his brows, troubled, almost desperate. “I fear too much was lost, they -- the Pact, the Marshal, there will be consequences…”

  Anise touched a gloved finger to his lips, silencing him.

  “Hush, blossom. Slow down. It is over, for now, and we both have time.” Anise smiled, then reached for pen and paper. “I want to hear it all. Start from the beginning.”

 

 


End file.
